Trees
by Abombidal boo
Summary: Short Kranna, SPOILER ALERT  first game . She climbed trees, and always fell. He was always there to catch her. Oneshot.


boo: I feel like I haven't written anything in forever...

Disclaimer: Sure you have. None of it was any _good_, but...

boo: Oh, just do your job...

Disclaimer: boo does not own Tales of Symphonia. Please don't sue her, she has no money. In fact, she's going $40,000 dollars into debt for college, so she has the opposite of money.

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><p>She climbed trees.<p>

When they first met he found this exasperating. It took far more energy to climb _out_ of a tree than to climb _in_ a tree after all. She was so weakened that he had to catch her as she fell. She would push him away immediately and lean against the tree as she caught her breath, glaring daggers at him for catching her.

"You're too weak!" He would admonish her every time this happened. "I won't always be there to catch you!" She would turn and walk away, every inch of her body reading fury.

Later he found it intriguing. He would watch her. She would climb a tree, as high as she could go, and turn her face into the wind, laughing a bit if it was blowing strong that day. She still fell when she tried to get out, and he still caught her. She stopped pushing him away and glaring, but instead always gave him a curious glance as he set her down. They never asked the questions running through their minds.

What he told her changed. "I wish you would be more careful." He would murmur as they walked away. She just shrugged.

And then he found it entrancing. It was the way her hair moved in the wind, almost as if it were and extension of the breeze. It was the way she would relax, her face full of happiness, framed in green leaves. It was the way she would sometimes see him watching her and blush. It was the way, when she fell and he would catch her, her face, for just a moment, was so very temptingly, teasingly close to his. It was the way she felt in his arms, warm, and soft. Sometimes she would sling an arm around his neck for a moment, a silent 'thank you'. He would set her down and see conflict in her face.

"You always catch me." She said finally one day, after they had been traveling together for nearly a year. He had just set her down, and he could read the uncertainty in her face as she said it.

"You always fall." He replied. They were only inches apart, sweet torture. He could smell the sun on her hair.

"You could let me fall." She told him quietly.

He shook his head. "No. No."

She set her jaw stubbornly. "I could take it, Kratos, I'm stronger than I look."

"No. Anna, I could not let you be hurt." When she said nothing, he took a deep breath and released it slowly before looking her in the eyes. "Why do you climb trees?" He asked at long last.

She shrugged helplessly. "Why do birds fly?"

"But you always fall. You have to know you will fall." He persisted.

She looked away, and did not answer for a long moment. When she did answer, her voice was quiet. "When I was in the Ranch there was no freedom. Every choice I had was taken from me. What I did, what I ate, when I slept, even..." She touched the gem at her throat and swallowed hard. "When I'm up in a tree, and all that is gone. There's just the feel of the bark beneath my hands, and wind and the sun on my face, and..." She hesitated, and looked up at him, her cheeks stained red. "And I know that you're there to catch me when I fall, and I never want that to change."

Kratos had been holding his breath during this short speech, and suddenly he could not release it. For a moment time froze as if everything, the whole world, depended upon what he said, what he did next. He was frozen. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to run as far away from her as possible. He wanted to touch her, hold her, never let her go. He didn't know what to do.

And then time started again. Anna touched his cheek gently, and smiled a small, quiet smile. She had taken the weight of the world off his shoulders in that small gesture. He smiled back at her, his hands moving to her waist. They fit together naturally, neither one moving any faster than the other as their lips met, their fates sealed. When they pulled apart her rested his forehead on hers.

"I'll always catch you." He whispered.

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><p>Years later he sat before her grave, talking quietly about Lloyd, their son, and all the things that had changed since the Chosen began her journey. When he came to the end of the story, he paused.<p>

"He climbs trees, you know." He said at last. "With Colette standing at the bottom waiting for him, terrified he will fall. He never does. He is strong. He is brave." He ran his fingers gently over the tombstone, over her name. "He is free."

He paused again, uncertain how to say what came next.

"I'm leaving soon. On Derris-Kharlan. This world is strange to me now. If you were here... Hmph. But you are not." He stood and turned to go, but paused once more before turning back. "I am sorry Anna. I didn't catch you that last time. For that, I will ever atone." He turned away again, and walked away.

Unseen by anyone the shade of Anna stood beside her grave and sighed. "Oh Kratos, it wasn't just me I wanted to be free..."

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><p>boo: Kindly review and tell me what you think!<p> 


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